


once lost, but never forgotten

by gracezodiac



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Established Relationship, Hair Braiding, M/M, Morning After, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 20:06:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8547298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracezodiac/pseuds/gracezodiac
Summary: In a moment of domesticity, Hux braids Ren's hair and remembers his mother.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hello lovelies
> 
> day 13 of angst november here with the prompt 'family'
> 
> this one actually has a hopeful ending! how about that
> 
> warnings: mentions of child abuse, implied character death
> 
> please leave comments if you can, and i hope you enjoy!!!

Ren was a menace. An infuriating menace and if the bastard wasn't so good in bed Hux would have probably murdered him by now.

 

And now he was stuck in the situation where the ridiculous creature would crawl into his quarters every few nights so they could fuck to the point of exhaustion, and much to his disgust, Hux actually found himself looking forward to it.

 

It was unseemly. And Hux refused to let it become more than it already was, much to Ren's displeasure, who seemed intent on latching onto him afterwards.

 

Disgusting.

 

This particular morning was one of the rare ones in which Hux didn't forcefully have to kick Ren out of his bed, since the Knight had to leave early. Apparently he was spending the day training in the gym, or something like that. Truthfully Hux hadn't been listening, too busy getting dressed himself since he was needed on the bridge within the next hour. There really was no need for him to get ready so far ahead of time, but usually after he'd kicked Ren out, he'd sit with his data-pad and check any reports that had come in overnight that required his attention. An old habit, but it kept his productivity up.

 

What was strange, verging on irritating was that after Hux had dressed himself, Ren still hadn't left the room. He may have woken Hux up with a spectacularly good blow job but he knew the rules by now, and Hux was about to snap at him to get a move on but saw that he was already presentable and ready to leave, but was sat perched on the edge of his bed, doing what Hux presumed was some attempt at braiding his ridiculous hair. Hux watched in amusement for a while as Ren kept trying to fold the various strands of hair together, which kept slipping from his grasp. After a certain point it became painful to watch, and Hux strode over to him, sighing audibly.

 

“Let me do it.” He said, getting himself into a comfortable sitting position behind the knight, who'd removed his hands from his hair and was staring at Hux curiously, before he turned to face forwards again. As Hux ran his fingers through the hair to get rid of any knots, he realised that this was the first time he'd touched Ren's hair properly. Every time previous had been when he'd yanked and tugged at it to spur Ren on in bed. It was soft, more so than he was expecting. It felt quite nice, and he had to stop himself from just absently running his hands through it. That was far too sentimental a gesture, and he wasn't doing this out of kindness, this was to demonstrate what an incompetent mess Ren was.

 

With that in mind, he focused on the task at hand, separating the dark locks into several strands and interlocking them, working methodically from the front of his head. Ren, much to his surprise, kept quiet, apparently content enough to let Hux go about his task. It was quite peaceful, the two of them sat in mutual silence, the chaos of their usual relationship at some sort of standstill. Hux tried to convince himself this wasn't in any shape domestic, nor did it mean anything to him, but failed miserably. He was about half way done when Ren spoke up and broke the quiet of the moment.

 

“Who taught you?”

 

Hux almost didn't reply, expecting Ren to mock him, but when the question wasn't pushed, Hux decided he did seem to be genuinely curious. And it would be a shame to ruin the atmosphere by being hostile, Hux supposed.

 

“My mother.” He answered after a while, his voice coming out more soft than he'd intended. It was hard not to be sentimental when thinking of her.

 

He had very few memories of his mother, since Brendol had taken him away when he was only a small boy. But he held onto those memories dearly. He couldn't remember her face particularly, just a bright loving smile, and her eyes. He knows he has his mothers eyes, and when Brendol had spat that statement at him, blind drunk, Hux couldn't help the flare of pride. _Good_ , he thought, preparing himself for the blows he knew were coming, _now there's always a part of her with me_.

 

She had long hair too. One of his clearest memories was watching her sat down in a chair, brushing through the silky strands. She'd caught his eye and smiled, beckoning him over to her. He'd walked over, and she'd picked him up and settled him in her lap so he could see up close. She brushed it a few more times and then told him to watch as she went and braided it. Afterwards she let him try, even though he made a mess of it, but he remembered the way she'd smiled so fondly at him, pressing kisses to his head and telling him what a good job he'd done.

 

He came back to himself, and for a moment worried that he'd somehow projected all of this to Ren. But if he had, Ren wasn't saying anything about it. Small mercies so it seemed.

 

He finished the braid, and found himself reluctant to pull away. The simple act had been more pleasant than he ever would have expected, and a secret part of him enjoyed doing something in his mother's memory. Hux never found out what happened to her but it was easier to presume she was dead; Brendol had a habit of destroying people one way or another.

 

His hands slipped from Ren's hair who took that as his cue to stand up. Hux followed in a similar suit, brushing himself down and making sure he was still presentable. When he was satisfied he looked back up only to find Ren staring at him with an intense sort of gaze, one that made him feel overwhelmed and exposed.

 

“Thank you.” Ren said, and Hux could tell that he meant it.

 

“You're welcome.” He replied, despite the words feeling strange in his mouth.

 

Ren nodded at him and turned to leave, picking up his mask and taking his bag of what Hux presumed to be gym clothes. He paused when he reached the door, hesitating to put his helmet on. Instead he turned back to look at Hux once more.

 

“My mother taught me too.” He said, quietly. He let the statement hang in the air for a moment before he smiled at Hux like they'd shared something together, before putting the mask on and leaving his quarters.

 

In hindsight, Hux supposed they had.

 

**Author's Note:**

> aw well would you look at that
> 
> as always you can find me at [skywalkeraesthetics](http://www.skywalkeraesthetics.tumblr.com)


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